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blue · cool

#b8acdf

a light, soft blue · cool · closest name: Thistle

Token name suggestion: Meadow Harbour

RGB
184, 172, 223
HSL
254°, 44%, 78%
CMYK
18, 23, 0, 13
Luminance
0.4502

#b8acdf is a light soft blue, 254° on the wheel and 75/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (10.00:1). As text it scores 2.10:1 on white — use #7C66C4 instead. Nearest name is Thistle, nearest Tailwind family is purple.

hsl(254 44% 78%)rgb(184 172 223)Base step 300AAA inkCool

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #b8acdf is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#b8acdf
Hue
254°
blue
Saturation
44%
soft
Lightness
78%
light
Brightness
87%
HSV value
Perceived
71%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.4502
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
75/100 cool
Color family
Blue
Tone
Soft
Best ink
Black
10.00:1
Closest name
Thistle
ΔE2000 10.6
Chroma
28.1
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.772
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
purple
500 · ΔE 23.7
Web-safe
#CC99CC
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue254° of 360°
Saturation44%
Lightness78%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #b8acdf.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool75% cool

Reads cool. Warm and cool siblings keep the same lightness, so you can swap one in without redoing your contrast maths.

Luminance by channel
Red23%
Green66%
Blue12%

Green carries most of what the eye calls brightness — that is why WCAG weights it 0.7152.

Every format

HEX#b8acdf
HEX (8-digit)#b8acdfff
RGBrgb(184, 172, 223)
RGBArgba(184, 172, 223, 1)
HSLhsl(254, 44%, 78%)
HSV / HSBhsv(254, 23%, 87%)
HWBhwb(254 67% 13%)
CMYKcmyk(18%, 23%, 0%, 13%)
LABlab(72.9 14.5 -24.1)
LCHlch(72.9 28.1 301.0)
OKLCHoklch(0.772 0.073 295.4)
XYZ (D65)xyz(47.84, 45.02, 75.97)
Decimal12102879
Display P3color(display-p3 0.722 0.675 0.875)
Web-safe#CC99CC

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #b8acdf;
background-color: #b8acdf;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #b8acdf;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#b8acdf] bg-[#b8acdf]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #b8acdf;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.722, green: 0.675, blue: 0.875)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.722, green: 0.675, blue: 0.875, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#B8ACDF</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFB8ACDF)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFB8ACDF)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(223, 172, 184)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(184, 172, 223)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(184, 172, 223)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 184, 172, 223)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.7216f, 0.6745f, 0.8745f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{184,172,223}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #b8acdf 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #b8acdf 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#31245C, #D9D3EE);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #b8acdf h s calc(l - 7));

Design tokens

The same ramp in the four formats a team actually needs. Paste one and the whole palette lands with it.

css custom propertiesclick to select
:root {
  --brand-50: #F6F5FA;
  --brand-100: #EDEAF5;
  --brand-200: #D7D1EB;
  --brand-300: #b8acdf;
  --brand-400: #9786D0;
  --brand-500: #745DC1;
  --brand-600: #5E44B1;
  --brand-700: #4E3993;
  --brand-800: #3E2D76;
  --brand-900: #302456;
  --brand-950: #1E1736;
  --brand: #b8acdf;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #F6F4FA;
  --brand-border: #CDC4E8;
  --brand-hover: #A292D5;
  --brand-pressed: #8C79CB;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #181424;
    --brand-ink: #D9D3EE;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F6F5FA',
        100: '#EDEAF5',
        200: '#D7D1EB',
        300: '#b8acdf',
        400: '#9786D0',
        500: '#745DC1',
        600: '#5E44B1',
        700: '#4E3993',
        800: '#3E2D76',
        900: '#302456',
        950: '#1E1736',
        DEFAULT: '#b8acdf',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F6F5FA,
  '100': #EDEAF5,
  '200': #D7D1EB,
  '300': #b8acdf,
  '400': #9786D0,
  '500': #745DC1,
  '600': #5E44B1,
  '700': #4E3993,
  '800': #3E2D76,
  '900': #302456,
  '950': #1E1736,
);
$brand-base: #b8acdf;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#F6F5FA", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#EDEAF5", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#D7D1EB", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#b8acdf", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#9786D0", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#745DC1", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#5E44B1", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#4E3993", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#3E2D76", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#302456", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#1E1736", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$value": "#000000", "$type": "color" }
  }
}

Best text color

Only one of black and white can be right. This is the one, with the number that proves it.

Readable at a glance#000000 on #b8acdf · 10.00:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 2.10:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 10.00:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #b8acdf as text scores 2.10:1 on white and 10.00:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #31245C at 6.51:1.

Make it accessible

A contrast checker tells you that you failed. This tells you what to ship instead — same hue, same saturation, lightness moved only as far as WCAG demands.

The quick fox
#7C66C4 · 4.61:1
AA on white−19% L
#7C66C4
The quick fox
#5F45B2 · 7.05:1
AAA on white−29% L
#5F45B2
The quick fox
#b8acdf · 10.00:1
AA on blackalready passes
#b8acdf
The quick fox
#b8acdf · 10.00:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#b8acdf

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #9987D1 is enough for headings on white. Non-text elements such as icons, chart strokes and focus rings also sit at 3:1 under WCAG 2.2 (1.4.11).

Accessibility — WCAG contrast

Aa
#b8acdf on white: 2.10:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#b8acdf on black: 10.00:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #b8acdf as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #b8acdf.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White2.10:1AaAa
Slate 502.01:1AaAa
Slate 1001.92:1AaAa
Slate 2001.70:1AaAa
Slate 3001.41:1AaAa
Slate 4001.22:1AaAa
Slate 5002.27:1AaAa
Slate 6003.61:1AaAa
Slate 7004.93:1AaAa
Slate 8006.97:1AaAa
Slate 9008.51:1AaAa
Black10.00:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #A1B3E1
deuteranopia · #A2B2DE
tritanopia · #B1B4BD

Roughly one man in twelve has some form of colour vision deficiency. If any of the three panels above is hard to tell apart from a neighbouring colour in your palette, add a shape, an icon or a label so the meaning does not rest on hue alone.

Color scale — 50 to 950

A Tailwind-shaped ramp built around this exact hex. #b8acdf is pinned to step 300; the rest hold its hue and let saturation ease off at the extremes so the pale end never turns neon.

#F6F5FA
#EDEAF5
#D7D1EB
#b8acdf
#9786D0
#745DC1
#5E44B1
#4E3993
#3E2D76
#302456
#1E1736
Base = 300Lightest = 50 · #F6F5FADarkest = 950 · #1E1736Text step on white = 500
Perceptual ramp — OKLCH

The same eleven steps expressed in OKLCH, where equal lightness numbers actually look equally spaced. HSL ramps go muddy in the yellows and washed out in the blues; this one does not. Modern browsers render it natively — the hex ramp above is the fallback.

50100200300400500600700800900950
oklch tokensclick to select
:root {
  --brand-50: oklch(0.97 0.018 295.4);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.029 295.4);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.044 295.4);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.057 295.4);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.067 295.4);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.073 295.4);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.073 295.4);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.069 295.4);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.061 295.4);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.051 295.4);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.040 295.4);
}

Colors that work with #b8acdf

Not a palette — a role sheet. Each swatch answers one question you will hit while building the component.

Text on it#000000
Black wins here
Surface#F6F4FA
Tinted page background
Border#CDC4E8
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#5D4B9B
Captions on the surface
Accent#979735
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#31245C
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#EFEDF8
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#181424
Dark-mode background
Hover#A292D5
One step down in lightness
Pressed#8C79CB
Two steps down
Disabled#F4F3F7
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#C2B6E9
Offset from the fill so it reads
Light mode
Everything in its place

Surface, border, heading and body all derive from this one hue, so the screen stays coherent without a second palette.

Primary actionSecondaryBadge
Dark mode
Same hue, inverted

Lightness flips, hue holds. The accent stays the anchor in both themes.

Primary actionSecondaryAccent

In real components

The same eight roles, wired into the interface patterns you will actually build with them. Every state below is a computed value, not a mock-up.

Buttons and states
Save changesHoverPressedDisabled
OutlineSubtleLinkFocused
Form field
you@company.com

Focus ring uses the light variant so the field still reads as one shape.

Send me product updates
Notice
Your export is ready

The file stays available for seven days. Download it before it expires.

NewBetaDraft
Data
Storage used68%
Acme LtdActive
NorthwindTrial
GlobexActive

How to use #b8acdf

Derived from its contrast, chroma and lightness — not from taste.

Works well for
  • Text and icons on dark surfaces
  • Charts, tags and secondary surfaces
  • Card and section backgrounds
  • Brand accents, badges and data highlights
Use with care
  • Text of any size on white — fails WCAG AA
  • White text placed on it
  • Pairing with a same-lightness hue — edges vibrate
Minimum size as text on white
Not as text
Safe as a fill behind white type
No — use #31245C
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #9987D1

Meaning and mood

What a colour in this family tends to signal, and how this particular chroma and lightness change the reading.

trustedcalmcompetentcorporate

The default of institutions for a reason: blue is read as stable and safe across nearly every culture that has been surveyed.

The muted chroma softens the association — it reads considered rather than loud, which suits long-form and data-heavy screens. The lightness keeps it airy and approachable.

Worth knowing

It is also the most crowded hue on the web. Distinctiveness has to come from your other choices.

Reads as
  • FormalityMedium
  • EnergyMedium
  • Weight23/100
  • TemperatureCool
  • ApproachabilityReserved

Colour associations are cultural and vary by market. Treat these as a starting point for a conversation with your audience, not a finding about them.

Similar colors

One move away from this hex in each direction. Every swatch is its own page.

Color relationships

The wheel positions with their names attached, so you can grab the one you actually need.

Complementary#D3DFAC
Analogous left#ACBADF
Analogous right#D2ACDF
Split-complement 1#DFD2AC
Split-complement 2#BADFAC
Triadic 1#DFB8AC
Triadic 2#ACDFB8
Tetradic#DFACBA
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°254°

#b8acdf sits at 254°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red72.2%
Green67.5%
Blue87.5%
R · 0–255
184
0xb8
G · 0–255
172
0xac
B · 0–255
223
0xdf

CMYK percentages

Cyan17.5%
Magenta22.9%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)12.5%

Total ink coverage is 53%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#b8acdf text on a black background

contrast 10.00:1

Card sample

#b8acdf text on a white background

contrast 2.10:1

Card sample

#b8acdf on grey

1.92:1

#b8acdf on its own surface

1.92:1

#b8acdf on its dark surface

8.59:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #b8acdf;
Background color
Panel with #b8acdf background
background-color: #b8acdf;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #b8acdf;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(184, 172, 223, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(184, 172, 223, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #b8acdf;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #b8acdf, #DAACDF);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #b8acdf, #DFACD7);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #b8acdf;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #b8acdf;
caret-color: #b8acdf;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #b8acdf;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #EFEDF8;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #b8acdf;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#b8acdf 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #b8acdf over white; the bottom row is the same alpha over a checkerboard, so you can see what survives on a photo or a video.

Bottom row of hexes is the flattened result over white — use those when a design tool refuses transparency, or when you need a solid fallback.

alpha in every syntaxclick to select
rgba(184, 172, 223, 0.5)
rgb(184 172 223 / 50%)
#b8acdf80
hsl(254 44% 78% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #b8acdf 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#b8acdf1a#F8F7FC
20%#b8acdf33#F1EEF9
40%#b8acdf66#E3DEF2
60%#b8acdf99#D4CDEC
80%#b8acdfcc#C6BDE5

Gradients from #b8acdf

Six recipes, each built from this hex and shown with the exact CSS that produced it.

Elevation
Same hue, three lightnesses — safe anywhere
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #DED8F0, #b8acdf 45%, #31245C);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #b8acdf, #D696D7);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #b8acdf, #D3DFAC);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #F1EEF9 0%, #b8acdf 45%, #31245C 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #F6F4FA, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #D1DBED 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #E1C2E8 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #31245C 0%, transparent 65%), #b8acdf;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #b8acdf

Shades — darker

Tints — lighter

Tones — desaturated

Color harmonies

Nearest named colors

Ranked with CIEDE2000 across all 139 CSS keywords. Under ΔE 2 the eye stops telling them apart; over ΔE 10 they are plainly different colors.

#b8acdf in the real world

Where a color in this family tends to land, and the interface roles it is usually asked to play.

Industries
TechnologyFinanceHealthcareEnterprise SaaS
Common UI roles
SurfacesBadgesHighlightsEmpty states
Print note

Converts to four-color process without much drama. Proof it anyway.

On screens

Holds up across typical panel gamma. Still worth checking on an uncalibrated laptop, where mid-tones shift most.

In dark mode

Usable as-is on a dark surface at 10.00:1.

Explore nearby colors

Small, deliberate steps away from this hex — useful when you are hunting for the version of a colour that finally feels right.

#b8acdf, answered

What color is #b8acdf?

#b8acdf is a light soft blue, closest to Thistle (ΔE2000 10.6). It sits at 254° on the hue wheel with 44% saturation and 78% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #b8acdf?

rgb(184, 172, 223) — 184 red, 172 green and 223 blue out of 255, or 72.2% / 67.5% / 87.5% by channel.

What is #b8acdf in HSL and HSV?

hsl(254, 44%, 78%) and hsv(254, 23%, 87%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #b8acdf a light or a dark color?

It is a mid-tone. Relative luminance is 0.4502 and perceived brightness is 71%, so black text on it reaches 10.00:1.

Should I use black or white text on #b8acdf?

Black. It scores 10.00:1 against #b8acdf, versus 2.10:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #b8acdf accessible on a white background?

#b8acdf on white scores 2.10:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #7C66C4 to reach 4.5:1, or #5F45B2 for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #b8acdf?

#D3DFAC sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #DFD2AC and #BADFAC, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #b8acdf?

For interface work: #F6F4FA as the surface, #CDC4E8 for borders, #5D4B9B for secondary text, #979735 as an accent and #31245C for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #ACBADF and #D2ACDF stays calm, while #D3DFAC is the loudest partner.

What is #b8acdf in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(18%, 23%, 0%, 13%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #b8acdf warm or cool?

Cool — it scores 75 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #CBACDF; nudged cooler, #ABB2E0.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #b8acdf?

The purple family — its 500 step is #a855f7, ΔE2000 23.7 away. That is a visible difference, so define #b8acdf as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #b8acdf in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#b8acdf] or text-[#b8acdf], or register the whole ramp under theme.extend.colors.brand so you get bg-brand-500 and friends. The generated 50–950 scale on this page is ready to paste into your config.

What is #b8acdf with 50% opacity?

rgba(184, 172, 223, 0.5), or #b8acdf80 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #DCD6EF; over black, #5C5670.

Is #b8acdf a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #CC99CC, ΔE2000 10.1 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #b8acdf mean?

As a blue, it reads trusted, calm, competent. The default of institutions for a reason: blue is read as stable and safe across nearly every culture that has been surveyed. At this moderate chroma the association is present but not shouted.

What gradient works with #b8acdf?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #DED8F0, #b8acdf 45%, #31245C). For more colour, a short hue run to #D696D7 keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #b8acdf in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #b8acdf at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.